by London has done it again. This week, Resonance Europe’s Best Cities Report named the capital the Best European City for the second year running. She’s like Adele at any given awards ceremony: grateful, but she knew it was coming.
Because there is, basically, no competition. And a big part of the reason London topped the list was its unparalleled culture scene – in fact, it came first in the culture category too, as if there was any question about it.
Let me elaborate (donate me please, this is my favorite subject).
There are more than 230 museums and galleries in London, most of which are free to visit. Free. Before you even think about the temporary exhibitions that pop up every wise year, you can waltz into the National Gallery any day of the week and imagine yourself in front of Arnolfini’s Portrait (Jan van Eyck, 1434) or Artemisia Gentileschi’s Self- Portrait of Saint Catherine of Alexandria (c1615-17). You can immerse yourself in the beauty of ancient Korean pottery at the British Museum, or swoon over delicious wallpapers at the William Morris Gallery in Walthamstow, for nothing. Not worth the price of coffee. And you can use the loo.
Every time I visit Europe I am reminded of how great Britain is at museum craft. Sure, sometimes our institutions are a little weird with their wall texts, but compare the new, superbly curated and interpretive National Portrait Gallery and, say, the almost weird Museo Capodimonte art gallery in Naples (a bit random, but that’s where I last week) and it is immediately clear how many streets lie ahead.
What else? London has four ‘autonomous’ symphony orchestras (in addition to the BBC SO) — the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, the London Symphony Orchestra, the London Philharmonic and the Philharmonic. These last two are live at the Royal Festival Hall, along with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, the London Sinfonietta, Chineke!, and the Aurora Orchestra (they do everything from memory. Unbelievable).
Meanwhile, Wigmore Hall is a world-renowned treasure for classical music, loved by musicians from pianist Igor Levit and cellist Sheku Kanneh-Mason. It’s about to announce its new season, so keep your ears open.
In fact there is live music of all stripes — London has between 90 and 100 community music venues, as well as the stages, arenas, Academies, Apollos, Ally Pally and the like. You could go to a gig every night of the week, music or, indeed, comedy, if you had a stronger constitution than I do.
Our theater offering is also second to none, and I say that as someone who is about to spend an entire week in New York seeing Broadway shows.
From tiny spaces above pubs (shout out to Theatre503 in Battersea) to venues in the West End with big names (Matt Smith in An Enemy of the People at the Duke of Yorks, or Sarah Snook doing all the voices in The Picture of Dorian Gray at the Royal Haymarket Theatre); from local venues punching well above their weight (the Bush; the Kiln; the New Diorama) to unique theater environments such as the Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre, there’s room and show for almost every budget, and the variety of stories now starting adding to the narrative on the London stage (go and see Red Pitch at @sohoplace and For Black Boys… at the Garrick) is so inspiring.
Then there is dance, and of course we have the Royal Ballet, which is one of the best in the world, but then also the contemporary company Rambert, which is also one of the best in the world, just for example , and The peerless Sadler’s Wells is an unexpected stop on any touring dance company’s schedule.
Oh and despite the concerted efforts of the Arts Council, we still have two great opera companies (along with some smaller ones, doing very interesting work), how long ENO can hold out, I’m not really sure.
It’s hard to put your finger on the alchemical formula that makes London so culturally exciting. I think our multicultural, uniquely integrated community has a lot to do with it. Living in this high-pig city, with a smile, it’s almost impossible not to be influenced by what’s going on next door.
Add to this a rich historical fabric that is visible, layer upon layer, alongside the new and evolving in this ever-changing city (and that word, evolution, is key; London does not stand still) and it seems I want you to understand why culture flowers here the way it does. There are only so many stories, and each new arrival comes with his or her own. As I said. No contest.
What the Culture Editor Did This Week
Soufiane Ababri, Barbican
The Moroccan artist’s new installation in the Barbican’s Curve is a stylized homage to gay clubhouse spaces. Inhabited by his vivid paintings (many nude men), he explores the many layers of pride and shame that people have in a society that wants to destroy you. There’s a lot here that I didn’t understand, but I really liked it, and for many it will speak volumes.
Nye, National Theatre
This British fever dream features a pyjama-clad Michael Sheen as Aneurin ‘Nye’ Bevan, a socialist firebrand and architect of the NHS, reliving his past as he lay dying in hospital. Tim Price’s role takes a little too long to play, a bit explanatory and tub-thumpy, but it’s interesting and the musical number in the middle was fun, if odd.
